AfterDawn: News

Netflix will only stream 1080p on Microsoft Edge or IE11

Last week, Microsoft made headlines by claiming that its Microsoft Edge was the only browser that could handle 1080p streaming on your PC.

It appears that is actually true.

Multiple reports have tested Netflix with Chrome, Firefox, and Opera and found that they all cap at 720p, while Microsoft Edge and IE11 reach 1080p. No browser will stream 4K, no matter what hardware you have.

It is unclear why the Microsoft browsers offer the best quality, but Microsoft gives us a hint in their blog: "From video hardware acceleration to PlayReady Content Protection and the Protected Media Path, Windows 10 is designed to provide the highest quality, most secure, and most power-efficient video playback available on any version of Windows."

Bozobub

Yes, this is true, except that Internet Explorer also plays 1080p just fine; try it and see, if you don't believe me ^^' . It's also been true for months, and there's nothing unclear about it.

The reason is quite simple: The standards for HTML5 streaming are only finalized up to 720p, and MOST browsers follow the standards. Microsoft, however, has never been particularly good at following any standard they didn't come up with themselves, and furthermore, this is an opportunity to try to scavenge some market share for their terrible browsers. Safari has the same niche in the Mac camp, from what I've seen online, but I don't use Macs, so YMMV.

Firefox and its variants (Pale Moon, Waterfox, et al.), Opera, and Chrome all are standards-compliant, so they won't have 1080p HTML5 playback until everything is finished. Flash still works just fine for HD content, but sadly, most big video providers don't use Flash any more. This is understandable, as Flash is a dumpster-fire of security holes and bugs, but leaves us without 1080p until everything is completed.

18.7.2016 23:27 #1

hearme0

Such a shame that MS is so desperately trying to reacquire some IE/Edge marketshare.

Sadly, 1080p streaming via Netflix is not that necessary to endure IE/Edge possible pop-ups and moreover, the difference is not night and day and rather negligible.

I hate everything about IE and Edge but I truly love Microsoft and their product line.